Ron Swoboda
| Ron Swoboda | |||
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| Outfielder | |||
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Born: June 30, 1944 Baltimore, Maryland |
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| MLB debut | |||
| April 12, 1965, for the New York Mets | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 30, 1973, for the New York Yankees | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .242 | ||
| Home runs | 73 | ||
| Runs batted in | 344 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Ronald Alan Swoboda (born June 30, 1944) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder best remembered as a member of the 1969 "Miracle Mets".
After graduating from Sparrows Point High School, one season at the University of Maryland, and a stellar showing in the AAABA tournament in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Swoboda was offered a $35,000 contract to sign with the New York Mets and scout Pete Gebrian on September 5, 1963.
He spent only one season in the Mets' farm system AA Williamsport, PA before making the team in spring training, 1965. He made his major league debut as a pinch hitter in the season opener, and lined out in his only at-bat. He pinch hit, again, in the second game of the season, this time hitting an 11th-inning home run (the Mets still lost, as the Houston Astros had scored four runs in the top of the inning). He homered again in his first at-bat on April 18, giving him two home runs in his first four Major League at-bats.
He had 15 home runs by the All-Star break, the most ever by a Mets rookie in the first half, ahead of Benny Agbayani (11 in 1999) and Ike Davis (11 in 2010). After he commented during a TV interview that he loved hitting fastballs, he began seeing a lot more breaking balls, and hit only four more on the season. Still, his 19 home runs stood as a Mets rookie record until Darryl Strawberry's 26 in 1983. His rookie fielding percentage was a below-league-average .947, however, he had nine outfield assists.
Swoboda wore number 14 as a rookie in 1965. When the Mets acquired third baseman Ken Boyer from the St. Louis Cardinals prior to the start of the 1966 season, they granted him number 14, as he'd worn it in St. Louis. Swoboda wore number 17 briefly during spring training in 1966, then switched to number 4. His home run drought continued through the 1966 season, when he hit only eight home runs and batted .222, with fifty runs batted in.
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